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U.S. users are leaving Facebook by the millions, Edison Research says

(www.marketplace.org)
1293 points rmason | 16 comments | 06 Mar 19 20:30 UTC | HN request time: 0.476s | source | bottom
1. standardUser ◴[06 Mar 19 23:00 UTC] No.19323876[source]▶
It feels like Facebook now contains all of the negative parts of social media - complaining, arguing, chain posts, fake news, relatives, etc. While Instagram now has all the pleasant parts - pretty photos of families, vacations and food! So these days I find myself using Instagram regularly and Facebook almost never.

Having said that, I'll never leave Facebook until something else replaces it. It's the only place I have to keep in touch with a couple hundred people I would otherwise have no contact with. And it's still common for various groups of people I know to use it for event planning.

I also find myself having to share invites and news with people I know who are not on Facebook. They appreciate it, but I consider it a pain in the ass that they could easily resolve by getting a Facebook account again and just checking it once a week.

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2. fullshark ◴[06 Mar 19 23:13 UTC] No.19323966[source]▶
Instagram to me seems like the worst parts of social media, in that it's a vanity feeding mechanism amplified. Which in turn makes it an anxiety inducing experience if you aren't doing "cool things" that make other people jealous.
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3. toomanybeersies ◴[06 Mar 19 23:37 UTC] No.19324115[source]▶
I agree with you completely.

Instagram is social McDonalds. Quick gratification from pretty pictures of friends doing cool shit, ranked so that the prettiest friends appear on your newsfeed first.

Try putting a serious post on Instagram, nobody will see it and it will fall flat.

Meanwhile I put out a post on Facebook asking for help (after my house was burgled) and had about 15 people messaging me within a couple of hours willing to come around to my place and lend me a hand.

You can't even share links on Instagram, so I'm sure that the GoFundMe that was set up to help cover the money that was stolen from me would've gotten a lot less money than it has.

I like Instagram as an entertainment platform for looking at cool photos, and for posting the occasional photo myself (never of myself, always landscape of event photography), but it's absolute trash as a social media platform.

4. sanxiyn ◴[06 Mar 19 23:46 UTC] No.19324177[source]▶
I consume Instagram like TV (they even launched IGTV, although I don't use it and it's terrible). People mostly don't get anxiety from watching TV. Maybe it has to do with the fact I don't use Instagram as SNS.
5. standardUser ◴[06 Mar 19 23:50 UTC] No.19324204[source]▶
I guess I view it from the other end of that spectrum. It's a place where I get ideas of places to go and things to do/see/eat. Plus I enjoy seeing the people I care about doing things that make them happy. I want my friends to show off the best parts of their lives.

But I'm also very particular about who I follow, unlike on Facebook where I'm friends with every old coworker, classmate and family member.

6. pixelrevision ◴[06 Mar 19 23:58 UTC] No.19324266[source]▶
Facebook is quite good as a contact list. It’s a good way to get ahold of random people you might have trouble getting in touch with otherwise. Email, phone and addresses change but a Facebook id typically does not. They can keep their “engagement” though.
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7. peruvian ◴[07 Mar 19 00:26 UTC] No.19324476[source]▶
I enjoy using IG but I don’t follow many real people. I follow organizations, brands, etc. I like seeing their new stuff as well as any news such as sales, new releases, etc. I follow photographers and artists. It’s essentially a feed of stuff I like.

I wouldn’t follow “real” people unless they’re close friends. Don’t want to see people’s lunches or vacations.

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8. standardUser ◴[07 Mar 19 00:48 UTC] No.19324612{3}[source]▶
It's also the only platform of any kind where I have clicked on ads... on purpose!
9. buboard ◴[07 Mar 19 00:54 UTC] No.19324646[source]▶
facebook shot themselves in the foot with their constant attempts to bring the news sites to their platform. It used to be about virtual sheep, and then it became a place where apparently people chatter endlessly about politics. One has to wonder if politics is the best way to keep your users engaged or the most profitable.
10. chillacy ◴[07 Mar 19 01:14 UTC] No.19324738[source]▶
Messenger works as a standalone app, I've found it easier to message people there instead of friending them where they'll live in my feed forever even once they cease to be relevant.
11. NovaS1X ◴[07 Mar 19 01:47 UTC] No.19324894[source]▶
I suppose if you use IG like that then sure. For me, I follow other photographers and online "zines", so my IG is full of other artists. "Influencers", celebrities, and meme accounts are banished from my feed. In turn, I only post the photos I want to be public, that I'd sell as prints or show in a gallery.

If you follow the vanity stream then you're going to see exactly that, but IG can be a totally different experience. For me, it's a fantastic source of inspiration and a way to see what other artists are doing.

Now, for me the only use FB has left is a dumping ground for my photos that the older members of my family want to see but whom are not on IG yet.

12. mercutio2 ◴[07 Mar 19 02:35 UTC] No.19325134[source]▶
It’s a terrible contact list. They don’t actually give you the details you need to contact people!

If the user in question actually uses Facebook, then it can act as a messaging service. But if someone, for instance, sent me a Facebook message, they would never receive a response, because I would learn about it approximately 6 months later when I do my annual login.

13. justaguyhere ◴[07 Mar 19 02:43 UTC] No.19325174[source]▶
couple hundred people I would otherwise have no contact with

Not being snarky, this is a genuine question - If you can't make the effort to email these people every other month or so, then do you really care that much about them? I can understand the difficulties in visiting in person, or even phone calls - many people don't like phone calls these days, but email/SMS? This sounds more like you have a passing curiosity about these people than genuinely caring about them

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14. cageface ◴[07 Mar 19 02:57 UTC] No.19325229[source]▶
I travel a lot and enjoy taking pictures and sharing them with friends so Instagram was a lot harder for me to give up then Facebook. I just disabled my account though and so far it feels like a positive move. Instagram isn't entirely without benefits but overall it just started to feel like an obligation and a distraction.
15. josteink ◴[07 Mar 19 13:20 UTC] No.19327770[source]▶
I was about to comment on that particular remark too.

Lately I’ve unfollowed/unfriended everyone I dont feel I have a relationship to.

People of my class 1996 or whatever? Gone. That’s not my social circle anymore. Etc. You get the picture.

But still FB insisted on showing all kinds of uninteresting garbage instead of posts from people I know.

So now I’m no longer checking Facebook. And they did it to themselves.

16. standardUser ◴[07 Mar 19 21:00 UTC] No.19332366[source]▶
I've gotten back in touch with various people over the years. I can't predict which of the couple hundred people I will have a reason to reach out to in the future. But I know I'll inevitably be happy to be connected to this or that person on Facebook when I pick up a similar hobby or visit a certain place or go looking for some new type of job, etc.

And no, obviously not ever person I know is worth emailing or calling on the phone on some regular basis. That doesn't mean I don't want to know them.